This year, when I participate in the Golden Isles Alzheimer’s Walk, I won’t just be walking as the Executive Director of Memory Matters Glynn. I’ll be walking as a daughter and a niece who knows firsthand the heartbreak of Alzheimer’s.
I lost my mother, Nancy, and my Aunt Mary to this devastating disease. I know what it feels like to watch someone you love slowly change. I know the sadness, the frustration, the exhaustion, and the helplessness that can come with an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. And I know how deeply this disease affects not only the person living with it, but the entire family.
That is why the work of Memory Matters Glynn is so personal to me.
Every day, we help local families who are walking this same difficult road. We provide support groups, counseling, education, social and enrichment activities, caregiver respite, and a place where people can come and know they are understood. And we provide all of these services completely free of charge.
I have the privilege of seeing what that support means to families. Sometimes it is a caregiver finally realizing they are not alone. Sometimes it is a person living with dementia laughing, singing, creating art, or simply enjoying time with friends. Sometimes it is giving an exhausted caregiver a few precious hours to rest and breathe.
For me, the Golden Isles Alzheimer’s Walk is about all of them. But it is also about Mom and Aunt Mary.
I can’t change what Alzheimer’s took from our family. But I can honor their lives by helping another family face this journey with more support, more compassion, and more hope.
I’m asking you personally to help me. Please consider making a donation to my Golden Isles Alzheimer’s Walk fundraising effort. No gift is too small. Every dollar helps Memory Matters Glynn continue providing these vital services to families in our community at no cost to them.
I would be incredibly grateful for your support. Your gift would mean more to me than you know—not only because you are supporting a cause I have devoted my work to, but because you are helping me honor two women I loved dearly.
I walk for my mother, Nancy.
I walk for my Aunt Mary.
I walk for every family who has heard the words, “It’s Alzheimer’s.”
And I walk in hope that no family has to face this journey alone.
Thank you for helping me remember, honor, and make a difference.
